Thursday, September 24, 2009

Good fish ‘n’ chips are almost a delicacy. Problem is, finding really good fish ‘n’ chips. Even more rare in many parts of the country is finding curry chips. So, tonight I set about making some fish ‘n’ curry chips right here at home. Also in an effort to make this a little healthier, I only pan fried the fish and a did over roasted chips. I know, you may scoff. Real Fish ‘n’ Chips must be deep fried! Well, I partly agree, and in addition the “healthier” aspect, most people simply don’t own a deer fryer. So, here we go…

Heat oil in a pan, add onion and apple, and saute until soft. Add curry powder and stir. Add flour and stir in completely, letting it “cook” a couple minutes. Add diced tomato and tomato paste. Stir. Slowly stir in water while stirring. Add enough to make a thick sauce. Salt and pepper to taste.

Ok, there we have the curry sauce. Then chips don’t require much of a recipe. Just cut some potatoes into thin slices and toss with some oil in a large bowl. Spread the potatoes out in a single layer on a large cookie/baking sheet. Bake them in a pre-heated 450F oven for about 30 minutes.

Now we need the fish. Good Fish’n’Chips requires a good beer batter made with Real Ale.

Mix the flour, salt and turmeric. Add the beaten egg and whisk in. Slowly add the beer, whisking the whole time. You should end up with a fairly thick batter. You want it quite thick, as you’re not deep frying and don’t want it to run of the fish too easily. Let sit for 30-60 minutes before use.

Get some nice fresh Cod, preferably some from a sustainable fishery (see Seafood Watch). Rinse it in cold water and pat dry. Before dipping it into the batter, coat the fish entirely with seasoned flour. You can buy seasoned flour, but making your own is easy. Just weigh out about 1.8oz (50g) of flour. To it, blend in a large pinch each of the following: salt, pepper, turmeric, paprika, dry mustard. Then a small pinch of dry ground sage or oregano. And finally a couple shakes of lemon pepper.

Once the fish is coated in the seasoned flour, dip it into the batter, coating thoroughly, and drop it into a cast iron skillet filled with enough oil to cover the bottom plus a little more, which has been heated to 350-375F. The right temp is very important! Once the fish has browned on one side, flip over. Hopefully you made the batter thick enough that it hadn’t run off. 😉

When fish is done, remove from pan and “de-grease” on a paper towel. Get your fries out of the oven, sprinkle with salt and a dash of malt vinegar and pour on the curry sauce. Hopefully you’ll have something just as good as can be found at the local pub.